Balancing load distributions of loopback ports

Abstract

Balancing load distributions of loopback ports includes determining that a load distribution among loopback ports of a switch is unbalanced, determining whether the load distribution is balanceable, and balancing the load distribution.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for balancing load distributions of loopback ports in a packet routing switch, comprising:
 determining that a load distribution among loopback ports of the switch is unbalanced, wherein said switch comprises a number of input ports, output ports and separate loopback ports, each loopback port specifically to receive a recirculation of a packet already previously received by the switch; 
 determining whether said load distribution is balanceable; and 
 balancing said load distribution. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a drop rate for each of said loopback ports. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising determining a length of a sampling period based on said drop rate. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein determining said length of said sampling rate includes identifying a maximum sampling rate. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein determining a length of said sampling period based on said drop rate includes identifying a predetermined sampling rate adjustment threshold below said maximum sampling rate. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein determining said length of said sampling rate includes increasing said sampling rate exponentially if said sampling rate is below said predetermined sampling rate adjustment threshold. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 5 , wherein determining said length of said sampling rate includes increasing said sampling rate linearly if said sampling rate is above said predetermined sampling rate adjustment threshold. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further determining whether said load distribution is balanced among groups of said loopback ports assigned to service different virtual local area networks. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further determining whether said load distribution is balanced internal to a group of said loopback ports assigned to service a single virtual local area network. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that said load distribution among loopback ports of said switch is unbalanced includes determining that said load distribution is unbalanced with a unified metric. 
     
     
       11. A system for balancing load distributions of loopback ports in a packet routing switch, comprising:
 an unbalanced detection engine to detect that a load distribution among loopback ports of the switch is unbalanced, wherein said switch comprises a number of input ports, output ports and separate loopback ports, each loopback port specifically to receive a recirculation of a packet already previously received by the switch; 
 an optimizing determination engine to determine whether said load distribution is balanceable; 
 a sampling rate engine to select a length of a sampling rate based on a drop rate of said loopback ports; and 
 a balancing engine to balance said load distribution. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , further comprising an intergroup load distribution engine to determine whether said load distribution is balance among groups of said loopback ports. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11 , further comprising an intragroup load distribution engine to determine whether said load distribution is balanced internal to a group of said loopback ports assigned to service a single loopback service policy group. 
     
     
       14. A computer program product for balancing load distributions of loopback ports, comprising:
 a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, said non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable program code embodied therewith, said computer readable program code comprising program instructions that, when executed, causes a processor to:
 detect that a load distribution among loopback ports is unbalanced; 
 determine whether said load distribution is balanceable; 
 select a length of a sampling rate based on a drop rate of said loopback ports; 
 determine whether said load distribution is balance among groups of said loopback ports assigned to service different loopback service policy group; 
 determine whether said load distribution is balance internal to a group of said loopback ports assigned to service a single loopback service policy group; and 
 balance said load distribution; and 
 adjust said length of said sampling based on whether said sampling rate is above or below a predetermined sampling rate adjustment threshold. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The computer program product of  claim 14 , wherein said loopback ports are incorporated in a packet routing switch that comprises a number of input ports, output ports and separate loopback ports, each loopback port specifically to receive a recirculation of a packet already previously received by the switch. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, when balancing said load distribution, following loopback port service policies that restrict to which loopback ports any particular packet can be sent. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a packet on a non-loopback port of said switch; 
 determining that said packet is a tunnel packet and encapsulates a second packet; 
 removing a tunnel header to de-capsulate the second packet; and 
 with a loopback port selector, send the second packet, after de-capsulation, to one of said loopback ports for a further processing by said switch. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 1 , wherein receipt of a packet by a loopback port selector of said switch triggers said determining whether said load distribution is unbalanced. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising consulting historical records of a loopback port selector to determine whether said load distribution among said loopback ports of said switch is unbalanced. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 1 , wherein balancing said load distribution comprises reallocating bandwidth among said loopback ports or groups of said loopback ports.